Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.63.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Citigroup from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Citigroup from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Citigroup from $72.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Citigroup Stock Down 0.6 %

C opened at $71.01 on Friday. Citigroup has a 12 month low of $49.17 and a 12 month high of $73.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $67.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.45.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.86 billion. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.19% and a net margin of 4.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Citigroup will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Citigroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.93%.

Institutional Trading of Citigroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Citigroup in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Citigroup during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Citigroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Citigroup by 1,139.7% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 52,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 48,484 shares during the period. 71.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Citigroup

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions.